Chapter 352: Dare to Let Her Through, Dare to Get a Pentakill!

October 1, 2023, Hangzhou North Scene Ecological Park Esports Center venue.

As the most anticipated of the seven esports events at this Hangzhou Asian Games, and undoubtedly the king of viewership, the final day was specifically scheduled for the first match of the first day of the National Day holiday.

Perhaps this was also due to the "correctness" of the two sides ultimately facing off in this final.

Even the stage design of the venue itself had undergone major, specialized alterations for this final.

The colorful floor screen suddenly lit up with a custom pattern, with pastry-crust textures inlaid with flowing light trails, and osmanthus projections circling the edges fell onto the glass partitions, turning the entire circular main stage into a "gilded mooncake"!

At the same time, the opening track, the classic Mid-Autumn Festival song "May We All Be Blessed with Longevity" performed by the Taiwanese female singer Teresa Teng, began to play.

The melody, which signifies "reunion," echoed against the five-star red flags in the stands; one could only say the significance was profound.

The packed venue was almost entirely filled with Chinese faces, and everyone was beaming—feeling on one hand that the gold medal was already in the bag, and on the other that just reaching the final was already a massive success!

And looking at the "China" vs "Chinese Taipei" text at the top.

Those behind the scenes and in front of the screens who had deliberately arranged all of this also wore satisfied expressions.

The live stream, which had originally been restricted to a specific official app, had its broadcast rights opened up entirely!

This moment could truly be called the focus of all eyes.

The number of viewers on the online live stream was growing rapidly without a moment's pause, with ratings crushing and exceeding the vast majority of other traditional sports events currently taking place.

The CCTV male host stepped onto the stage.

"After five days of competition on the field, there are now only two finalist teams left in the League of Legends event!"

"First, let us welcome the Chinese team players to the stage!"

The venue lights focused on the stage entrance, and every person who appeared drew cheers from the masses.

And the moment Ye Bo stepped onto the stage, the crowd below erupted in an instant; the sound wave emitted by almost everyone from both sides of the venue could only be described as terrifying, and palm-sized red flags were fluttering in the wind together.

Ye Bo still had the bright red flag draped over his shoulder as he arrived at the center of the stage and stood still, enjoying the most grand welcome ceremony of the entire event.

He saw familiar faces sitting in the front row of the audience, including his parents, former and current teammates, and a crowd of acquaintances from the esports circle shouting, and his face was filled with genuine pride and self-esteem.

He had successfully brought the five-star red flag to the center of the Hangzhou Asian Games arena!

The host was clearly a bit shocked by this display, waiting a brief moment before drawing out his tone: "Next, welcome the Chinese Taipei team to the stage!"

One by one, the extremely familiar players of the Taipei team, almost all of whom came from the LPL, stepped onto the stage, also receiving unified cheers from the audience below without any favoritism.

"I now declare the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games League of Legends event final officially begun!"

The players from both sides took their seats.

Compared to the relaxed and natural demeanor of the Chinese team, the Taipei team on the other side actually looked somewhat serious.

Especially the coach, WarHorse; whether it was because the journey to these Asian Games had been too smooth and he had misjudged his own team's strength, he was now filled with thoughts of what the repercussions would be if they could win against the opponent, even if it were just winning a single game.

Therefore, he made a "miracle move" comparable to giving JackeyLove a first-pick Draven.

"The red side is letting it through... it seems they are going to let the Rogue Assassin through!?"

Wang Duo, who had been interpreting the pick-and-ban phase a second ago, suddenly noticed that the fixed figure who seemed to have been embedded in the pick-and-ban slot was missing, and his eyes widened instantly.

"Could it be! Will the first surprise of this final be Ye Bo's Rogue Assassin!?"

"Remember the last time we saw Master Ye's Akali? Even the championship skin hadn't been released yet! We haven't even seen the original user use the championship skin once!"

The already incredibly heated live chat exploded instantly.

[Holy crap, they let Akali through!? It's Chinese New Year!!!]

[It really is, damn it, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl can meet once a year, but Master Ye and Akali almost don't meet once a year!]

[Gala: Holy crap, Akali is here, Akali is here! It's not me lying to you guys! She's really here this time!!]

[Good brother WarHorse, don't worry, we'll definitely leave you a whole corpse today... I promise you won't break the 1550 record!]

[Still 1550, still 1550, still 1550, I've been seeing 1550 everywhere I go these past two days, I'm starting to not even recognize the number 1550, am I right, 1550?]

[Do you guys think there's a possibility that if Master Ye doesn't pick it, it proves that all the teams that banned it for a year were clowns...]

To be fair.

WarHorse really had his own understanding with this move.

On one hand, in the 13.9 MSI patch, an assassin like Akali isn't actually that strong; whether back then or now, only that one team, V5, actually gave her a ban slot.

The important thing is that Ye Bo really hadn't picked Akali for a very, very long time!

And in WarHorse's mind, there was also a faint idea...

Is there a possibility—that this Akali is actually just a fear "imagined" by all the teams, just pure "respect."

Maybe he doesn't even play her at all!

To take a step back, the blue side already has a huge advantage in the first game's pick-and-ban, the red side's ban slots are never enough, and it's harder to win the first game anyway.

At worst, just treat it as burning a champion.

The Chinese representative team didn't disappoint, locking in the avatar almost instantly.

The camera cut to the player bench, and one could see Ye Bo wearing a look of obvious surprise; it was rare to see him looking so unsettled.

And soon.

Facts ultimately told everyone.

In this past year, the sacrifice of those hundreds of ban slots was not meaningless.

Even though the jungler Karsa and support SwordArt were constantly running to the mid lane, and the mid laner Fofo also picked Azir to play defensively and just farm from the back.

But once level 6 was reached.

It was as if "High Noon" had arrived.

Surrounded by greenish-black mist, Akali feigned moving forward, her toes half an inch off the ground like a Teng Snake flying without feet, appearing even more ghostly than the footsteps of ordinary assassins.

The moment Azir turned halfway, she suddenly used her ultimate, Perfect Execution, to leap forward!

As she did a front flip, she dragged a greenish-purple afterimage behind her, and the phantom of the Teng Snake circled her body like a guardian beast.

Fortunately, Fofo was even more nervous at this moment than he had been during that "Battle of Sin" in the summer split; in a state of high tension, he almost instantly synchronized and cast his ultimate, Emperor's Divide, in the opposite direction!

But the next moment.

One could see the green illusory skirt swaying with her breath, Akali lifted her legs slightly, and a pair of small green-light wings unfolded behind her and flapped as she backflipped—actually sliding out at an extremely strange 90-degree angle, grazing the very edge of the Azir soldiers' shield tips!

It was as if she were dancing a "Dance of the Falcon Shadow"!

At the same time, a dark Falcon Dance, hidden silently on the leg strap behind her hip, shot out, piercing the morning mist and striking straight at Azir's vital point!

Fofo was so shocked that his whole body trembled in disbelief, and he hurriedly flashed toward the tower to try and escape.

But under the thin black veil hanging in front of her forehead, a bone-chilling coldness flashed in her misty crimson pupils.

The next moment, her bare ankles used the force of the tumble to stomp fiercely from the air, with a few strands of light green snake-shaped Qi still wrapped around her taut calves, turning in mid-air to track Azir's flashed figure!

Even the defensive tower laser that came chasing after her "turned a corner" in mid-air!

Just as she was about to reach him, a stomp that looked slightly rough kicked straight into the small of Azir's back!

And then, with a casual, leisurely step, she cast the second part of her ultimate to dash out of the tower, as if she had only done something insignificant.

"SOLO!!! KILL!!!"

An extremely excited Wang Duo completely burned through his salary: "Although the Taipei team forced a focus on the mid lane despite the slight disadvantage in the early laning phase of the top and jungle, a solo kill was still completed on time at five and a half minutes in the mid lane! Akali didn't even have to use Flash!"

"A god-like technique, this is Master Ye's Akali! This is the championship skin Akali with the ID engraved on it!!"

"This Azir's laning phase is going to be ruined!"

The point of interest for Gu Gu beside him was quite strange: "In previous matches, it seems everyone preferred using the Prestige [Candle Dragon] skin, but why, after watching Master Ye use it today, do I suddenly feel the basic [Teng Snake] skin looks better..."

Wang Duo also joked: "Master Ye is here to promote products; it looks like the basic version is going to sell out after today. This is the true Master Ye selection!"